Connector assembly and method of manufacture

ABSTRACT

A connector assembly for allowing a free-flowing medium to pass through includes: a hollow female element with a transverse closure wall and passage openings which are formed in the side wall, a male element which can be inserted into the female element and can be coupled thereto, an adapter socket, inside which the female element can be displaced in the axial direction between a position in which it closes off the flow of medium and in which the passage openings are closed off by the adapter socket, and a position in which it allows medium to flow through and in which the passage openings are not closed off by the adapter socket. The female element is provided, at a distance from the transverse closure wall, with connecting elements which can form a connection with connecting elements arranged on the male element and/or a coupling piece which is coupled thereto.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a connector assembly for optionally allowing afree-flowing medium to pass through, comprising:

-   -   a hollow female element with a transverse closure wall and        passage openings which are formed in the side wall,    -   a male element which can be inserted into the female element and        can be coupled thereto,        an adapter socket, inside which the female element can be        displaced in axial direction between a position in which it        closes off the flow of medium and in which the passage openings        are closed off by the adapter socket, and a position in which it        allows medium to flow through and in which the passage openings        are not closed off by the adapter socket, in which assembly the        female element is provided, at a distance from the transverse        closure wall, with connecting means which can form a connection        with connecting means arranged on the male element or a coupling        piece coupled to the male element, and in which assembly, as a        result of actuation of the male element or said coupling piece        coupled thereto, the female element can be displaced between the        above-mentioned position in which it closes off the flow of        medium and the above-mentioned position in which it allows        medium to flow through, in which latter position the connecting        means of the female element are accommodated in a relatively        narrow cavity in the adapter socket, so as to form a connection        to the male element or the coupling piece coupled thereto, while        in the above-mentioned position in which the flow of medium is        closed off, said connecting means are accommodated in a        relatively wide cavity in the adapter socket, with the result        that the connection between the female element and the male        element or the coupling piece coupled thereto can be broken.

A connector assembly of this nature is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.4,445,551.

The drawback of the assembly described in this patent is that theelastic properties of the material of the assembly are crucial for it tofunction. In this connector assembly, the coupling between the male andfemale elements is brought about by the fact that outwardly projectingcoupling means are moved radially inwards, by means of a stop on theadapter socket, when the female element is pushed out of the adaptersocket. Consequently, the connecting means are in a deformed state whenthe male and female elements are coupled to one another. Duringuncoupling, the coupling means have to spring back outwards as a resultof the memory effect of the material in order to release the maleelement again. It will be obvious that after a certain time the memoryeffect of the material in question tails off and the action of theassembly is no longer ensured. This problem is exacerbated by the factthat the coupling means, in the position in which medium is allowed toflow through, are clamped in between the male and female elements.Consequently, these coupling means may be in the deformed state for aprolonged period, which has an adverse effect on the memory effect ofthe material. Another drawback of this is that the coupling means cannotbe of circular symmetrical design.

The object of the invention is to eliminate these drawbacks andtherefore the coupling between the female element and the male elementor the coupling piece coupled thereto takes place by pushing theconnecting means of the female element and the connecting means of themale element or the coupling piece connected thereto on each other bywhich at least one of said connecting means deviates in radial directionfrom the neutral elastically non loaded position and returns in theradial direction into the coupling position by own elasticity.

To be able to use relatively small forces to bring about the couplingbetween female element and male element or coupling piece connected tothe male element, the locking of the coupled connecting means of thefemale element and the male element or the coupling piece coupled to themale element takes place by further axial displacement of the maleelement with respect to the adapter socket into a locking positionspaced from the coupling position, in which locking position of theconnecting means radial displacement of the connecting means is madeimpossible.

Furthermore, it is preferable for the female element to be provided withmeans which limit the movement of the female element inside the adaptersocket, and that these means as well as the connecting means of thefemale element are situated on the side of the passage openings which isremote from the end wall. Consequently, the movement which the femaleelement has to make in order to open the passage openings can berelatively small. This has the advantage that the space which isrequired in the packaging in order to open the passage openings remainslimited. An other advantage is that the female element can be of compactdesign, so that it is possible to safe on material.

It is also preferable that the assembly has blocking means on the femaleelement and the adapter socket respectively which prevent axial movementof the female element and the adapter socket when the coupling betweenthe female element and the male element or the coupling piece coupled tothe male element is achieved, said blocking means being able to absorban axial load greater than the axial load needed the couple saidconnecting means of the female element and the male element or thecoupling piece connected thereto. This has the advantage that less forceis required for coupling: it is only necessary to bring about thecoupling between the male element and the female element, why thefriction caused by the sealing of the passage openings does not have tobe overcome.

Preferably the connecting means of the female element is an inwardundercutting and the connecting means of the male element or thecoupling piece connected to the male element is an inwardly projectingstop face.

A further drawback of the connector assembly as described in U.S. Pat.No. 4,445,551 is that it is possible for medium to flow through thepassage openings in the male element when the male element has beencompletely uncoupled from the female element. This may be highlyundesirable. Therefore, a further object of the present invention is toprovide a connector assembly in which flow through the male element isimpossible when the male element is not in the through-flow position.

This object is achieved by the fact that the male element isaccommodated in a coupling piece, and that the coupling piece in astarting position, seals off the passage openings in the male element,whereas when the connector assembly is in the position in which mediumis allowed to flow through, the passage openings in the male element arenot sealed off.

In a specific embodiment the coupling piece and the female element areprovided with means which can be made to interact with one another so asto couple the coupling piece and the female element, the coupling pieceand the male element being provided with means which can be made tointeract with one another in order to enable the male element and thecoupling piece to be fixed with respect to one another, and when theconnector assembly is being moved into the open position, the connectionformed by the means for fixing the male element and the coupling piececan absorb an axial load greater than the axial load which is requiredto bring about the connection formed by the means for fixing thecoupling piece and the female element with respect to one another.

An appropriate selection of the type and strength of the connectionbetween the male element, female element and the coupling piece ensuresthat, when the assembly is being coupled and uncoupled, the couplingpiece firstly provides the connection between the female element and themale element and secondly ensures that flow through the male element isonly possible in the position in which medium is allowed to flowthrough. This functionality is achieved by means of the measuresdescribed in claims 7 to 12.

One particular function of an embodiment with the coupling piece may bethat when the connector assembly is being moved into the open position,the connection formed by the means for fixing the female element and theadapter socket can absorb an axial load greater than the axial loadabsorbed by the connection formed by interacting means between the maleelement and the coupling piece.

The invention also relates to a method for producing a combination ofthe female and the adapter socket of the connector assembly according tothe invention by injection moulding.

It is intended that it should be possible to produce the female elementand the adapter socket in a joint operation by injection moulding. Inthis case the method is characterized in that the female element and theadapter socket are produced simultaneously in line with one another, ina single mould cavity, which is formed by a number of interacting mouldparts, in such a manner that, after a number of mould parts have beenremoved, the female element can be pulled into the adapter socket by amould part which, during the injection moulding, is releasably connectedto the female element. Also the male element and the coupling piececould be produced in a joint operation by injection moulding. Anappropriate selection of the mould parts allows the female element tofunction as an injection-moulding shield for the adapter socket. Thisensures that the female element and the adapter socket are mouldedsymmetrically, which is advantageous since it is possible to counteractundesirable deformation of the product caused by non-uniform shrinkage.Furthermore, partial seams are prevented from forming on the sealingsurfaces, so that the corresponding seals have a better action and cantherefore withstand higher pressures.

Also the combination of male element in the coupling piece could beprovided in a similar way in a joint operation.

The invention will now be explained with reference to the figures, whichshow two exemplary embodiments of connector assemblies according to thepresent invention. The figures also show an example of the injectionmould for production of a female element and an adapter socket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section through the four separate componentsof the connector assembly according to the invention, with the maleelement provided with a coupling piece.

FIGS. 2 to 6 show the connector assembly from FIG. 1 during its movementfrom the position in which it closes off the flow of medium into theposition in which it allows medium to flow through.

FIGS. 7 to 9 show the connector assembly from FIG. 1 when it is movingfrom the position in which medium is allowed to flow through into theposition in which the flow of medium is closed off.

FIGS. 10 to 13 show a cross section through part of an injection mouldin various positions during the simultaneous production of the femaleelement and the adapter socket.

FIG. 14 shows a perspective, cross-sectional view of the components ofanother embodiment according to the present invention.

FIGS. 15 to 17 show the positions of the components of the connectorassembly according to the present invention during coupling.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The connector assembly comprises a closure assembly 2 and an openingassembly 4, cf. FIG. 2. The closure assembly 2 comprises a femaleelement 1, in the form of a cap, and an adapter socket 5 in which thesaid female element 1 is slideably accommodated. The opening assembly 4comprises a tubular male element 3 and a coupling piece 7 in which thesaid male element 3 is slideably positioned. In FIG. 1, the fourcomponents of the assembly are shown separately and the various detailsare denoted by reference numerals.

FIG. 2 shows how elements are positioned with respect to one another inthe starting situation. The female element 1 is accommodated in theadapter socket 5 in order to form the closure assembly 2. The maleelement 3 together with the coupling piece 7 forms the opening assembly4.

The female element 1 comprises an end wall 9 and four openings 11 whichare arranged cylindrically near the said end wall 9. Furthermore, thefemale element is provided with a stop face 13, a locking protrusion 15,a stop rib 17, a stop face 19, an end stop face 21 and a conical entrysurface 23.

The adapter socket 5 is provided with a part 25 which can be attached toa packaging or belongs to a packaging, a conical surface 27 and a stopface 29 with a bevelled end face 30. The adapter socket 5 furthercomprises a narrow socket-like section 28 which is delimited by an innerwall 26.

In the starting situation, as shown in FIG. 2, the female element 1 ispositioned in the adapter socket 5, so that the conical face 27 of theadapter socket 5 bears against the face 13 of the female element 1. Thelocking protrusion 15 bears against the bevelled end face 30 and,together with the stop 13 and the conical surface 27, forms a connection13, 15, 27, 30 which ensures that the female element 1 is situated inthe desired, fixed starting position with respect to the adapter socket5, cf. FIG. 2. In this situation, the cylindrical holes 11 in the femaleelement 1 are sealed by the socket wall 24 of the adapter 5.

The male element 3 comprises an end wall 31, openings 33 formed in thecylindrical wall 34, a first recess 35 in the outside of the cylindricalwall 34 and a second recess 39 in the cylindrical wall 34.

The coupling piece 7 comprises a stop face 43, a conical wideningsurface 45, a run-on surface 53, an enclosing stop 57, an inner wall 59,a first locking protrusion 51 and a second connecting protrusion 55.

In the starting situation shown in FIG. 2, the male element 3 ispartially accommodated in the coupling piece 7. They are held inposition with respect to one another by the fact that the first lockingprotrusion 51 on the coupling piece 7 fits into the first recess 35 inthe male element 3 to form a connection 35, 51. In the startingsituation, the openings 33 are closed off by the inner wall 59 of thecoupling piece 7. In this situation, it is impossible for medium to floweither through the closing assembly 2 or the opening assembly 4.

When the closing assembly and the opening assembly are coupled, theopening assembly is fitted into the closing assembly 2, as denotedoverall by the arrow A, cf. FIGS. 2 and 3. In the process, a force isexerted on the adapter socket 2 on the one hand and on the male element3 or the coupling piece 7 on the other hand. The steps which areinvolved in the coupling operation are shown in FIGS. 2 to 6.

During coupling, the run-on surface 53 of the coupling piece 7 willcentre itself around the conical surface 23 of the female element 1, asshown in FIG. 3. When the opening assembly 4 is pushed further into theclosing assembly 2, the second connecting protrusion 55 will latch overthe stop rib 17 of the female element 1, forming a connection 17, 55.This is shown in FIG. 4. Since the connection 17, 55 exerts a forcewhich is directed in the direction of insertion on the coupling piece 7,the stop face 43 and the end face 21 are pulled together. Consequently,as the openings 33 slide along the seam, it is impossible for anyfree-flowing medium to leak out of the male element 3 into the passage32 in the adapter socket 5.

To form the connection 17, 55 in this way, it is necessary for theconnection 35, 51 between the male element 3 and the coupling piece 7 tobe able to absorb a greater force than that which is required to formthe connection 17, 55. If this were not the case, the male element 3would slide inside the female element 1 before the connection 17, 55 hasbeen formed and therefore without the closing and opening assemblieshaving been coupled to one another.

Since the stop face 43 of the coupling piece 7 then bears against thefemale element 1, the force exerted on the male element 3 is transmitteddirectly to the female element 1. Since the connection 13, 15, 27, 30can absorb a greater force than the connection 35, 51, the latter willbe broken. Consequently, the male element 3 slides into the femaleelement 1 until its end wall 31 bears against the inside of the end wall9 of the female element 1, cf. FIG. 5. However, before the male element3 reaches this limit position, the first locking protrusion 51 on thecoupling piece 7 is moved into the second recess 39 in the male element3, with the result that a new connection 39, 51 is formed between themale element 3 and the coupling piece 7. To achieve this, it isnecessary for the connection 13, 15, 27, 30 to be able to apply a forcewhich is great enough to produce the connection 39, 51. When the maleelement 3 is in its position in which it has penetrated as far inwardsas possible, openings 33 in the male element 3 and the openings 11 inthe female element 1 are aligned with one another.

As a result of the male element 3 then being moved further into thefemale element 1, the connection 13, 15, 27, 30 between the femaleelement 1 and the adapter socket 5 will be broken. This is the onlyconnection which is subjected to load, since the end face 31 of the maleelement 3 is supported against the end wall of the female element 1, ascan be seen in FIG. 6. As a result, the female element 1, with the maleelement 3 which has been pushed into it, will slide out of the adaptersocket 5 until the stop 19 bears against the stop face 29 and thealigned holes 11 and 33 open out freely into the packaging of which part25 forms part (cf. FIG. 6). It is now possible for medium to flow out ofthe male element 3, through the openings 33 which are formed therein,through the aligned openings 11 in the female element, into thepackaging, and also in the reverse direction. The friction between theenclosing stop 57 of the coupling piece 7 and the inner surface 26 ofthe adapter socket 5 ensures that the female element 1 does not slideback into the adapter socket 5. To increase this frictional force, anadditional snap-action connection may be fitted.

During uncoupling, the opening assembly 4 is pulled out of the closingassembly 2, in the direction of arrow B, by on the one hand pulling onthe male element 3 and on the other hand holding the adapter socket inplace, cf. FIG. 6. In the process, the same steps as for coupling arepassed through, but in the reverse order. These steps are shown in FIGS.6 to 9.

Since connection 17, 55, in the position in which it has been introducedto the greatest depth, is clamped in between the outer surface 34 of themale element 3 and the inner wall 26 of the narrow socket-like section28 of the adapter socket 5, this connection 17, 55 cannot be broken.This is shown in FIG. 6. This connection 17, 55 can only be broken whenthe enclosing stop 57 on the coupling piece 7 is pulled past the narrowsocket-like section 28. To enable the female element 1 to be pulled backinto the adapter socket 5 before the male element 3 is pulled out of thefemale element 1, the force which the connection 39, 51 is able toabsorb must be greater than the force which is required to produce theconnection 13, 15, 27, 30. This state is shown in FIG. 7.

Since it is not possible to pull the female element 1 further into theadapter socket 5, either connection 17, 55 or connection 39, 51 will bebroken. Making connection 17, 55 stronger than connection 39, 51 ensuresthat the male element 3 is pulled back into the coupling piece 7 first,as shown in FIG. 8. Moreover, connection 17, 55 is strong enough tobring about connection 35, 51. To break connection 35, 51 again, moreforce is required than that needed to break connection 17, 55, andconsequently the latter will then be broken and the closing-openingelement will be fully uncoupled. This is shown in FIG. 9.

In one embodiment, it is ensured that, during uncoupling, if it is notthe male element 3, but rather the coupling piece 7, which is pulled,the aligned openings 11, 33 are pulled back into the adapter socket 5.Since, in this embodiment, the connection 17, 55 remains clamped betweenthe outer surface 34 of the male element 3 and the inner wall 26 of theadapter socket 5, the closing assembly 2 and the opening assembly 4 willremain coupled to one another via the coupling piece 7. Only when themale element 3 is pulled out of the female element 1 is the connection17, 55 no longer enclosed and the two members can be uncoupled.

By allowing the connector assembly, after the male element and thefemale element have been coupled, to execute a free movement between theposition in which the flow of medium is closed off and the position inwhich medium is allowed to flow through, and providing the openings 11in the female element 1 with non-return valves, it is possible to obtaina pumping action. In this way, the liquid, for example, in the packagingcan be pressurized by pulling the male element 3 back and forth. Thismay be useful in order to remove a liquid from a packaging. By providingthe male element 3 with non-return valves it is possible, for example,to place the packaging under a slight vacuum.

FIGS. 10 to 12 diagrammaticallly illustrate how the closing assembly 2can be produced in an advantageous way. As stated previously, the femaleelement 1 is used as an injection-moulding screen for the adapter socket5, cf. FIG. 10. The female element 1 is injected via the gate 60, andvia an integral hinge 61 the material can also reach the adapter socket5. Since both components of the closing assembly 2 are now produced in asingle mould cavity, it is possible, by appropriately selecting themould parts, to assemble the closure piece as soon as it is removed fromthe mould. To this end, the mould is split, as shown in FIG. 10. Afurther advantage of this mould splitting is that there is no partialseam formed on the closure surface 12 of the female element 1. Byselecting that part of the sealing surface 12 which is formed in mouldpart 1 to be as large as possible, it is possible to make the sealbetween the female element 1 and the adapter socket 5 more reliable.

After injection-moulding and solidification, first mould parts I, II andIII are moved away, as shown in FIG. 11. By then moving mould part Vaway from the mould cavity, the female element 1 is pulled into theadapter socket 5, and the membrane 61 between the female element 1 andthe adapter socket 5 is broken. This is shown in FIG. 12. Since thefemale element then cannot be pulled along any further, since it doesnot fit through the opening in the adapter socket 5, the mould part V ispulled off and the closure assembly 2 has been assembled and can beremoved from the mould, as shown in FIG. 13.

Another embodiment of the connector assembly, without coupling piece 7,is shown in FIGS. 14 to 17. In FIG. 14, the three components of thisembodiment are shown: the female element 1, the male element 3 and theadapter socket 5.

The female element 1 is a cap-like housing with an end wall 9 on oneside. In the vicinity of this end wall 9 there is a sealing surface 12which is provided with passage openings 11 and is delimited on one sideby a stop face 13. On the other side, the female element 1 is providedwith a connecting protrusion 17 and an enclosing stop 19.

The adapter socket 5 is a socket-like housing in which the femaleelement 1 can be accommodated. The inner wall of the housing is providedwith a section of small diameter 26, a stop protrusion 29 and a conicalsurface 27.

The male element 3 is a tubular housing with an insertion end 72 and astop face 73 which, on one side, is delimited by a connecting surface55. In the vicinity of the insertion end 72, the male element 3 isprovided with passage openings 33.

The starting situation is shown in FIG. 15. In this situation, thefemale element 1 rests in the adapter socket 5, together forming theclosing assembly 2, while the male element, which forms the opener 4, iscompletely uncoupled. In this situation, the surfaces 13 and 27 of thefemale element 1 and the adapter socket 5, respectively, bear againstone another and the passage openings 11 in the female element 1 aresealed shut by the socket-like wall 24.

As a result of the male element 3 being fitted into the female element1, the connecting protrusion 17 on the female element 1 engages behindthe connecting surface 55 on the male element 3, resulting in aconnection (17, 55), cf. FIG. 16. In this situation, the passageopenings 11, 33 in the female element 1 and male element 3 are aligned,but through-flow is not yet possible. The sealing surface 12 of thefemale element 1 and the socket-like wall 24 of the adapter socket 5form a seal. This seal can be improved further by additional sealingmeans, for example a snap-action connection.

When the male element 3 is then pushed further into the adapter socket5, the female element 1, together with the male element 3, will move outof the adapter socket 5, and the passage openings 11, 33 are exposed,cf. FIG. 17. The stop protrusion 29 and enclosing stop 19 prevent thefemale element 1 from being able to move completely out of the adaptersocket 5. It is essential for the overlap between the inner wall of thesocket-like section 24 of the adapter socket 5 and the sealing surface12 of the female element 1 to ensure a sufficient seal, so that it isimpossible for any medium to flow through between the female element 1and the adapter socket 5.

When the male element 3 is pulled back out of the adapter socket 5, theconnection 17, 55 between the female element 1 and the male element 3cannot be broken, since the locking protrusion 17 cannot bend outwards,because the enclosing stop 57 is resting against the inner wall of thesection of the adapter socket 5 with the small diameter 26. This ensuresthat the connection 17, 55 can only be broken when the enclosingprotrusion 19 has moved past the section with the small diameter 26 andtherefore the female element 1 has returned completely to the startingposition, cf. FIG. 16.

By pulling on the male element 3 in the situation shown in FIG. 16, itis possible to break the connection 17, 55 and the male element 3 can beuncoupled. In this way, the starting situation shown in FIG. 15 isreached once again.

1. Connector assembly for optionally allowing a free-flowing medium topass through, comprising: a hollow female element (1) with a transverseclosure wall (9) and passage openings (11) which are formed in the sidewall, a male element (3) which can be inserted into the female element(1) and can be coupled thereto, an adapter socket (5), inside which thefemale element (1) can be displaced in axial direction between aposition in which it closes off the flow of medium and in which thepassage openings (11) are closed off by the adapter socket (5), and aposition in which it allows medium to flow through and in which thepassage openings (11) are not closed off by the adapter socket (5), inwhich assembly the female element (1) is provided, at a distance fromthe transverse closure wall (9), with connecting means (17) which canform a connection with connecting means (55) arranged on the maleelement (3), and in which assembly, as a result of actuation of the maleelement (3), the female element (1) can be displaced between theabove-mentioned position in which it closes off the flow of medium andthe above-mentioned position in which it allows medium to flow through,in which latter position the connecting means (17, 55) of the femaleelement (1) are accommodated in a relatively narrow cavity (28) in theadapter socket (5), so as to form a connection to the male element (3),while in the above-mentioned position in which the flow of medium isclosed off, said connecting means (17, 55) are accommodated in arelatively wide cavity (32) in the adapter socket (5), with the resultthat the connection between the female element (1) and the male element(3) can be broken, characterized in that the coupling between the femaleelement (1) and the male element (3) takes place by pushing theconnecting means (17) of the female element (1) and the connecting means(55) of the male element (3) on each other by which at least one of saidconnecting means (17, 55) deviates in radial direction from a neutralelastically non-loaded position and elastically returns in the radialdirection into the coupling position.
 2. Connector assembly according toclaim 1, characterized in that locking of the coupled connecting means(17, 55) of the female element (1) and the male element (3) takes placeby further axial displacement of the male element (3) with respect tothe adapter socket (5) into a locking position spaced from the couplingposition, in which locking position of the connecting means (17, 55)radial displacement of the connecting means (17, 55) is made impossible.3. Connector assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that thefemale element (1) is provided with means (13, 19) which limit themovement of the female element (1) inside the adapter socket (5), andthat these means (13, 19) as well as the connecting means (17) of thefemale element are situated on the side of the passage openings (11)which is remote from the end wall (9).
 4. Connector assembly accordingto claim 1, characterized by blocking means (15, 30) on the femaleelement (1) and the adapter socket (5) respectively, said blocking meanspreventing axial movement of the female element (1) and the adaptersocket (5) when the coupling between the female element (1) and the maleelement (3) is achieved, said blocking means (15, 30) being able toabsorb an axial load greater than the axial load needed to couple saidconnecting means (17, 55) of the female element (1) and the male element(3).
 5. Connector assembly according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe connecting means (17) of the female element (1) is an inwardundercutting and the connecting means (55) of the male element (3) is aninwardly projecting stop face.
 6. Connector assembly according to claim1, characterized in that the male element (3) executes a free travelwith respect to the female element (1) between the position in whichmedium is allowed to flow through and the position in which the flow ofmedium is closed off, without, in the process, releasing the couplingbetween the female element (1) and the male element (3).